


You Can't Imagine

by TJade



Series: Ceallach [2]
Category: Spies In Disguise (2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-05-05
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:48:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24016990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TJade/pseuds/TJade
Summary: Lance's apology to Ceallach.
Series: Ceallach [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1730674
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	You Can't Imagine

Lance hadn’t expected Keller to look so human.

Maybe that was stupid. Walter had hammered it into his brain that people were people, not just ‘good guys’ or ‘bad guys.’ And Lance was trying to shake his old mindset, he really was, but he had been at this a long time. He’d trained himself for years to compartmentalize, put everything in its neat little box. Right now, Ceallach Keller was still firmly in the ‘bad guy’ category. And bad guys had never been people to Lance in the way good guys were, not like his friends and coworkers. Bad guys were characters, larger than life and apart from it all at once.

Keller ought to be like that. Keller ought to be dramatic and imposing. She was, but she didn’t seem like a character, didn’t feel like a ‘bad guy.’ She was far from anything resembling Lance’s friend, but Keller felt more like a person to him than anyone else he’d put behind bars, and he resented it.

Maybe it was the scars. Whenever he looked at them, Lance was forcibly reminded of _who_ was responsible for those burns. Maybe it was the creases in her brow, the weary set of her posture, the bags under her eyes. Or maybe it was her eyes themselves, bright and blue and burning, almost like Walter’s.

But Walter’s eyes didn’t simmer with anger. Walter didn’t glare at Lance with murderous intent.

Lance took a breath. He’d come this far; he wasn’t about to quit now.

“Hey.”

He saw a muscle in Keller’s jaw twitch. Her expression stayed the same.

“Why’d you try to kill him?”

She raised an eyebrow. “You’ll have to be more specific than that, Sterling- I’ve tried to kill a lot of people.”

“You know who I’m talking about. Walter. Walter Beckett.”

Keller tilted her head slightly. “Should that name mean something to me?”

“My partner,” he elaborated. “You know, skinny white kid with all the weird gadgets? The one you nearly strangled?”

“Hm.”

“Why’d you try to kill him?” Lance repeated.

Her smile was sharp, sudden, and brief. “Isn’t it obvious?”

“Uh, if it was, do you really think I’d be visiting you to ask?”

Keller leaned forward, and for a moment she _didn’t_ seem like a person. She was predatory, alien, teeth flashing as she spoke.

“I tried to kill him so I could hurt _you_ ,” she spat.

The memory of those burning blue eyes rolling back in her head flickered into his mind’s eye.

“He didn’t deserve that.”

“Of course he didn’t. But my people, my crew, they were going to hurt _innocents._ They were the _bad guys._ Who cares if they get blown up?”

Lance felt his stomach heat. “They were terrorists.”

“Yes, running about unrestrained, destroying everything and everyone in their way. What sort of monsters would behave so?”

He almost retorted, but checked himself, counting to ten before replying. “I shouldn’t have killed them.”

Just like that, Ceallach Keller went from a snarling beast in a cage to a bemused human, her anger temporarily snuffed by confusion. “What?”

“They weren’t innocent, but your crew were still people. Our job is to keep everyone safe, but I didn’t do that.” Lance flexed his hand into a fist. “I hurt them. I hurt _you_.”

She squinted at him, wary of his uncharacteristic humility. “Did you figure this all out just now?”

“I’m not saying you were right to try to hurt us,” he told her. “But I shouldn’t have hurt you either. I fought fire with fire, and you got burned.”

Keller flinched. Lance immediately regretted his choice of words.

“I wasn’t trying to…look, I don’t know if I _regret_ killing them. I’ve already done it, and if I hadn’t done it, a lot of people would’ve died just from being in the wrong place at the wrong time, instead of _choosing_ to be there.”

“If that’s your attempt at an apology, it leaves something to be desired.”

Lance bit the inside of his cheek and continued. “But that end didn’t justify the means. People still got hurt, and that’s what we’re trying to prevent. So, I’m not sorry for keeping people from getting hurt. What I’m sorry for is how I accomplished that.”

She stared at him.

“You really mean that,” she noted.

“Hey, if you don’t believe me, Walter’s got this truth serum-”

“That wasn’t a question, Sterling. I can tell you’re being sincere.”

“Oh.” He blinked. “Huh. That’s good.”

Keller wrinkled her nose. “For you, perhaps. I’m undecided.”

Lance studied the deepened creases in her forehead, the set of her jaw as she pressed her lips together. He rose from his seat, stretching.

“Okay, well, Imma let you decide what you think of that. Also, I think Walter’s gonna come visit you later this week, so be nice to him, alright? ‘Kay, bye.”

He turned and walked away, feeling Keller’s gaze like a weight clinging to him as he left.


End file.
